Kane Wommack explains why stopping Georgia’s run game will be tough challenge

Sep 6, 2025; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs running back Nate Frazier (3) is tackled by Austin Peay Governors defensive back Myles Wiley (25) in the third quarter at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Alabama is coming off a bye week, and a physical Georgia ground game awaits them.

The Crimson Tide are preparing for a gritty Bulldog rushing attack, and the Tide’s defensive coordinator Kane Wommack believes Alabama will be seeing a healthy dose of Georgia’s bread and butter on Saturday, adding that the Crimson Tide’s run fits have to be better than they’ve been recently.

“Every team is working to get better, and those are the things that I told our guys,” Wommack said. “Everyone has issues right now, but everyone’s got to work to get themselves better… I think our run fits are improving as we go. I don’t think we are where we want to be, and certainly I think there’s some things we’ve put on tape that we’re gonna have to answer for as we go down the season. Things I imagine that Georgia and other teams in the SEC are gonna try to expose. We want to make sure we have a plan for those things, but I think our guys have been very locked in, the work we’ve done thus far.”

One thing the Bulldogs have shown on tape is they will not venture away from running the football, no matter the game circumstances.

Despite being down by multiple scores at halftime against Tennessee, Georgia continued to stick with the run game rather than abandon it. The Bulldogs ran the ball 55 times against the Vols and finished with 198 yards and three touchdowns.

“When you think about this team, this is a tough, gritty, their backs run hard,” Wommack said. “They’re physical, and so it’s ultimately going to be about bringing a grown man to the ground and the physicality that it takes to do that over and over because I think Coach Bobo does a really good job just staying committed to the run game as the game goes on and those are like body blows in a boxing match. You got to be able to match pound-for-pound for as many times as they want to run the ball.”

Gunner Stockton has been incorporated into the Georgia rushing attack from his quarterback position, and the Alabama defense has not done well against running quarterbacks under Wommack.

The most recent example was the Florida State game when Thomas Castellanos ran 16 times for 78 yards and a touchdown. Castellanos only threw the ball 14 times because Florida State was running the ball at will and creating explosive plays.

So far this year, Stockton has carried the ball 28 times for 124 yards and three touchdowns, and his toughness shows up on tape.

“I think they do a really good job with Gunner in the run game,” Wommack said. “It’s just enough to keep you honest. You see the run game at the right time. Certainly, third downs and red zone, and those are things that will always be the case for offenses. He’s a physical kid. He’s tough. He’s gritty. He’s willing to get the yards. In the read game, he makes the right decisions the vast majority of the time. He has certainly brought an element to their run game that maybe they didn’t have as much with Carson [Beck] a year ago, and I think that’s something that certainly we’re going to have to account for.”

Getting defensive tackle Tim Keenan III back on the field will be a huge boost for the Alabama defense and help the Tide be stronger versus the interior run game, but players on the perimeter will need to play at an extremely high level and deliver the boom on downhill tackles.

Alabama and Georgia square off this Saturday in Athens.